DCEU: Is An R-Rated Sequel What SUICIDE SQUAD Needs For Redemption?

Beware there are spoilers for SUICIDE SQUAD & DEADPOOL!

Last summer, Warner Bros., put out the DC Comics supervillain team-up film, SUICIDE SQUAD, to an overwhelmingly bad critical response. Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to Roger Ebert and The New York Post, it was metaphorically slaughtered by critics. Although it did make a decent profit thanks to diehard fans and some stellar marketing, the film was a disaster. Some fans (myself included) did enjoy the mindless fun, but the sequel is going to need to step it up in a big way if it is going to be a success.

Perhaps, it could be the perfect opportunity for Warner Bros., to put out their first R-Rated DC film.

The President/CCO Of Warner Bros. On An R-Rating

In a recent interview with Variety, the President and Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Toby Emmerich said that he does think that Warner Bros. will do an R-Rated film in the near future. This is primarily due to the success of Fox/Marvel’s LOGAN and DEADPOOL films that received the R-Rated treatment.

The R-Rating allows for a more “No Holds Barred” approach to the storytelling aspect. Having to worry less about censorship and more about the story. Such films like LOGAN and SIN CITY were able to tell the narrative they wanted without censorship. Violence is sometimes a very integral part of a character and their story. Censoring violence that has a purpose can potentially be detrimental to the narrative.

An R-Rating also gives the creators a lot more room to deal with sex; and, I do not mean people having sex — I mean people dealing with their sexuality. Exploring the sexuality of the characters in depth and maturely is something that is best suited for R-Ratings. Yes, there can also be actual sex. Like, that one scene in DEADPOOL. You know which one — we all know which one.

Don’t watch this scene with your parents…

Why Suicide Squad 2?

As many moviegoers were informed of during SUICIDE SQUAD, the group of villains are violent and extremely dangerous. Some sexual deviance is also implied; so, an R-Rating could be beneficial for the obvious reasons of sex and violence. While that was not a present issue in the film, it is something that the sequel could handle a whole lot better.

Addressing the insanely abusive relationship between Harley Quinn and The Joker is also something that is very well suited for an R-Rating. I feel like that issue will be handled in GOTHAM CITY SIRENS, as there are fewer characters to juggle around and the proper time could be spent on that subject. While this is important and was widely ignored in the first film, it is not the main issue. The main problem that SUICIDE SQUAD suffered from was a budget too big and a plot too far-fetched and underdeveloped.

Smaller Budget Does Not Mean Smaller Movie

The thing about R-Rated films is they have a much lesser budget than the regular PG-13 Blockbuster. This is because a significant portion of the movie-going audience (anyone under 17) are restricted from seeing the film. As for this, the film is guaranteed to make less money. A few examples of R-Rated comic book film budgets; LOGAN $98 million, DEADPOOL $58 million, SIN CITY $40 million, BLADE $45 million, DREDD $45 million. Whereas the budget for SUICIDE SQUAD was a whopping $175 million, more than twice of DEADPOOL’s budget comparatively.

An oversized budget means there are more hands in the pot. The creator loses a lot of control because the studio has put so much money into the project. This usually leads to a generic, predictable and sometimes boring plot. A reduced budget allows the creator to keep his vision truer to the original concept and make a more straightforward film.

Action…With A Meaning

Reducing the budget of a SUICIDE SQUAD sequel would allow more time for character development and interaction and less on massive set pieces and giant beams of light in the sky. More time for character and less on the action set pieces. Once you spend less time on the action sequences, they will carry more gravitas. It will be more important when they actually happen.

Instead of ten action sequences with a bunch of CG crap that only happen for the sake of happening, have five or six sequences that have meaning. Less money for CG effects means more effective action shots in camera. Less money for action sequences means that there will only be action if it serves the plot.

The plot would also benefit from a major reduction in scale. Instead of saving the world from a trash beam of light in the sky (I am not kidding, it was made of trash), have the team just completing a mission. The mission could be retrieving an item, kidnapping a person of interest, or even an assassinating a target. Keep the scale small; not everything has to be the end of the world.

Without an “End of the World” plot, there is more time to see how the team really bonds with no imminent threat of everyone dying. It is more personal, and that is what most compelling about these characters. The personal interactions between them were some of the best stuff in the first film. Leaning into that would be smart.

An Old Dog With New Tricks

Warner Bros. and DC have been making films together for years, and it is genuinely surprising that they have yet to dabble in an actual R-Rated film. While THE WATCHMEN was Rated-R, it is not a true DC property like BATMAN or SUPERMAN. Speaking of, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: ULTIMATE EDITION was Rated-R, but that was exclusive to the home release.

With the recent success of other R-Rated comic book films, now is as good a time as any for DC and Warner Bros. to try their hand at it. They already have plenty of properties that could benefit from it, and the aforementioned SUICIDE SQUAD franchise is surely their best bet.

The boss himself, Toby Emmerich, said he thinks it will happen soon. Now, the fans are just going to have to wait and see what DC has in store for us next.